Yeha, Äthiopien

The research in Yeha, 35 km to the northeast of Aksum, is devoted to a systematic examination of the cultural relations between South Arabia and East Africa. In 2012/13 the work of the Ethiopian-German project was concentrated on archaeological and conservational work on the monumental buildings of the site (early 1st millennium BC), on excavations in a cemetery and on archaeological examinations in the church forecourt and below a planned site museum

Coupling spectral imaging and laboratory analyses to digitally map sediment parameters and stratigraphic layers in Yeha, Ethiopia

Quantitative analyses of soil and sediment samples are often used to complement stratigraphic interpretations in archaeological and geoscientific research. The outcome of such analyses often is confined to small parts of the examined profiles as only a limited number of samples can be extracted and processed. Recent laboratory studies show that such selectively measured soil and sediment characteristics can be spatially extrapolated using spectral image data, resulting in reliable maps of a variety of parameters. However, on-site usage of this method has not been examined. We therefore explore, whether image data (RGB data and visible and near infrared hyperspectral data), acquired under regular fieldwork conditions during an archaeological excavation, in combination with a sampling strategy that is close to common practice, can be used to produce maps of soil organic matter, hematite, calcite, several weathering indices and grain size characteristics throughout complex archaeological profiles. We examine two profiles from an archaeological trench in Yeha (Tigray, Ethiopia). Our findings show a promising performance of RGB data and its derivative CIELAB as well as hyperspectral data for the prediction of parameters via random forest regression. By including two individual profiles we are able to assess the accuracy and reproducibility of our results, and illustrate the advantages and drawbacks of a higher spectral resolution and the necessary additional effort during fieldwork. The produced maps of the parameters examined allow us to critically reflect on the stratigraphic interpretation and offer a more objective basis for layer delineation in general. Our study therefore promotes more transparent and reproducible documentation for often destructive archaeological fieldwork

Routes of interaction across northern central Tigray (Ethiopia) between 2nd and 1st millennium BCE: Interdisciplinary research in the Rama area

We present the results of geographic-archaeological surveys and soundings that have been carried out in the Rama area of northern central Tigray between 2018 and 2019. This area so far received little attention despite its possible connecting function between the prominent pre-Aksumite sites of Yeha and its surroundings in Tigray and, e.g., the Sudanese Gash and Middle Nile regions. The special geographical setting and promising initial finds provided the base to investigate into forms of mobility and routes of interaction between the highland cultures of the northern Horn of Africa and the cultures of the middle Nile River, the northeastern Sudanese Gash Delta as well as parts of Egypt, especially between the 2nd and early 1st millennium BCE.FOLG

A Comparative Analysis of Case Studies from the Old World

The present contribution deals with the concepts of marginal habitats in selected regions of the ancient world, ranging from modern Spain to the Jordanian desert and from Turkey to the Ethiopian highlands. Central to this research is the hypothesis that the occupation of areas beyond the ‘normal’ settlement patterns corresponds to colonization processes which reflect specific social strategies and may have stimulated the development of new technological skills. A review of ‘marginality’ research in various disciplines indicates that there is no comprehensive definition of the concept, which can be approached from a multitude of perspectives and with manifold objectives. A survey of the eight case studies and two more in-depth discussions of the sites of Musawwarat (Sudan) and Ayamonte (Spain) highlight the potentials as well as the limits of the archaeological investigation into past marginalities. Patterns of spatial marginalization are the easiest to detect. The studies also show that we must not limit our analysis to the adverse factors connected to different kinds of marginalities. Instead, our analyses suggest that spatially marginal areas were deliberately chosen for settlement – an integration with core-periphery approaches may help us to understand these scenarios, which have received little attention in ‘marginality’ research in archaeology or elsewhere so far

Eukaryote-specific assembly factor DEAP2 mediates an early step of photosystem II assembly in Arabidopsis

The initial step of oxygenic photosynthesis is the thermodynamically challenging extraction of electrons from water and the release of molecular oxygen. This light-driven process, which is the basis for most life on Earth, is catalyzed by photosystem II (PSII) within the thylakoid membrane of photosynthetic organisms. The biogenesis of PSII requires a controlled step-wise assembly process of which the early steps are considered to be highly conserved between plants and their cyanobacterial progenitors. This assembly process involves auxiliary proteins, which are likewise conserved. In the present work, we used Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) as a model to show that in plants, a eukaryote-exclusive assembly factor facilitates the early assembly step, during which the intrinsic antenna protein CP47 becomes associated with the PSII reaction center (RC) to form the RC47 intermediate. This factor, which we named DECREASED ELECTRON TRANSPORT AT PSII (DEAP2), works in concert with the conserved PHOTOSYNTHESIS AFFECTED MUTANT 68 (PAM68) assembly factor. The deap2 and pam68 mutants showed similar defects in PSII accumulation and assembly of the RC47 intermediate. The combined lack of both proteins resulted in a loss of functional PSII and the inability of plants to grow photoautotrophically on the soil. While overexpression of DEAP2 partially rescued the pam68 PSII accumulation phenotype, this effect was not reciprocal. DEAP2 accumulated at 20-fold higher levels than PAM68, together suggesting that both proteins have distinct functions. In summary, our results uncover eukaryotic adjustments to the PSII assembly process, which involve the addition of DEAP2 for the rapid progression from RC to RC47.publishedVersio

No increased inbreeding avoidance during the ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle.

Mate preferences and mating-related behaviors are hypothesized to change over the menstrual cycle in ways that function to increase reproductive fitness. Results of recent large-scale studies suggest that many of these hormone-linked behavioral changes are less robust than was previously thought. One specific hypothesis that has not yet been subject to a large-scale test is the proposal that women’s preference for associating with male kin is down-regulated during the ovulatory (high-fertility) phase of the menstrual cycle. Consequently, we used a longitudinal design to investigate the relationship between changes in women’s steroid hormone levels and their perceptions of faces experimentally manipulated to possess kinship cues (Study 1). Analyses suggested that women viewed men’s faces displaying kinship cues more positively (i.e., more attractive and trustworthy) when estradiol-to-progesterone ratio was high. Since estradiol-to-progesterone ratio is positively associated with conception risk during the menstrual cycle, these results directly contradict the hypothesis that women’s preference for associating with male kin is down-regulated during the ovulatory (highfertility) phase of the menstrual cycle. Study 2 employed a daily diary approach and found no evidence that women reported spending less time in the company of male kin or thought about male kin less often during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Thus, neither study found evidence that inbreeding avoidance is up-regulated during the ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle.Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin

Bilder der Macht. Das griechische Porträt und seine Verwendung in der antiken Welt

Die Beiträge des Bandes untersuchen, wie Formen und Möglichkeiten des griechischen Porträts außerhalb des Kulturraums, in dem sie zunächst entstanden waren, aufgenommen und für die Zwecke und Anliegen von lokalen Eliten eingesetzt worden sind. Die Gattung der Porträtstatuen erfüllte in Griechenland zentrale gesellschaftliche Aufgaben. Seit dem späten 5. Jh. v. Chr. haben auch andere Gesellschaften die Mög- lichkeiten des Porträts für eigene Zwecke übernommen. Das gilt für Mittelitalien ebenso wie für Zypern und die westlichen Randgebiete des Perserreiches. Die Expan- sion des hellenistischen Kulturraums seit Alexander dem Großen machte auch die Länder Mittelasiens mit den Möglichkeiten des Porträts bekannt und führte dazu, das entsprechende Phänomene eine weite Verbrei- tung fanden. Später war es vor allem und in besonderem Maße Rom, das die Bildniskunst instrumentalisierte und für ihre weiträumige Verbreitung sorgte

Mutation of Rubie, a Novel Long Non-Coding RNA Located Upstream of Bmp4, Causes Vestibular Malformation in Mice

Background: The vestibular apparatus of the vertebrate inner ear uses three fluid-filled semicircular canals to sense angular acceleration of the head. Malformation of these canals disrupts the sense of balance and frequently causes circling behavior in mice. The Epistatic circler (Ecl) is a complex mutant derived from wildtype SWR/J and C57L/J mice. Ecl circling has been shown to result from the epistatic interaction of an SWR-derived locus on chromosome 14 and a C57L-derived locus on chromosome 4, but the causative genes have not been previously identified. Methodology/Principal Findings: We developed a mouse chromosome substitution strain (CSS-14) that carries an SWR/J chromosome 14 on a C57BL/10J genetic background and, like Ecl, exhibits circling behavior due to lateral semicircular canal malformation. We utilized CSS-14 to identify the chromosome 14 Ecl gene by positional cloning. Our candidate interval is located upstream of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (Bmp4) and contains an inner ear-specific, long non-coding RNA that we have designated Rubie (RNA upstream of Bmp4 expressed in inner ear). Rubie is spliced and polyadenylated, and is expressed in developing semicircular canals. However, we discovered that the SWR/J allele of Rubie is disrupted by an intronic endogenous retrovirus that causes aberrant splicing and premature polyadenylation of the transcript. Rubie lies in the conserved gene desert upstream of Bmp4, within a region previously shown to be important for inner ear expression of Bmp4. We found that the expression patterns of Bmp4 and Rubie are nearly identical in developing inner ears